In the chiropractic world, if you use "pickup lines" or hard sell techniques on your patients to force them into your office, you will pay in the long run. Communication is the cornerstone of all encounters with patients, not forcing or managing.

Think of your spouse or significant other. Did you use hard sell or management techniques to "persuade" him or her that you were the real deal? If you did, you can be sure that person is no longer in your life as time exposes all lies.

Patient visit average measures the quality of your patient relationships. Short term patients are expensive for the office and drain its morale and spirit. In order to attract longer term patients, you must have a total system of patient education and patient procedure that communicates your belief and allows patients the dignity to make the decision that is best for themselves and their families.

Without this infrastructure in your office, you will be continually searching for ways to get new patients to replace the ones that have dropped out of care. Instead of keeping the patients that you have already, you will be focused on the marketing of more new patients. You will not grow by just replacing patients that are no longer with you.

The whole world of chiropractic management gurus and groups points to new patients as the solution. Yet, if that was the solution, why are so many D.C.s going through patient after patient only to use them up and replace them with more short term patients? Patients are not playthings to be used up and discarded when the insurance or their symptoms dry up.

When you learn how to communicate to patients from your heart to theirs, they have confidence in you. You are telling instead of selling. You are family. When your office procedures and patient education reflect this mindset of success or "communication technology," patients want what you have almost magically. There is no need to sell. If fact, you will spoil the doctor-patient relationship if you resort to forcing or managing the patient.

What are the symptoms of forcing or managing patients? Low patient visit average. Low referral rate. Some patients won't even return for their report of findings. This causes stress in the doctor and lowers the morale of any office.

Make no mistake, the lifetime value of a long term communicated-to patient vs. a sold-to short term patient is so much greater. Many traditional chiropractic management groups stress the up front revenue generated by each patient. The lifetime value of a patient is not even discussed because there is no communication technology in most chiropractic offices. Without it, the D.C.'s lowered PVA forces the doctor to continually replace the patients that drop out.

You can't sell patient visit average. You can't buy it, nor can you give it away. Imagine all the time, money and energy that would be saved if you kept your patients. This time, money and energy could be spent on other things -- savings, college, retirement, toys, whatever you wanted.

Let's talk specifics.

Say in an acute care practice the case average is $1,000. Once the insurance or the symptoms go away so do patients. Referrals are few and far between, thus putting pressure on a non- communicating office to market, advertise, and other expensive propositions to fill the void of the departing patients.

The office with a complete system of office procedures and patient education that reflects the success mindset will get at least the $1,000 (usually much more) for the initial acute phase of patient care. Once patients enter wellness care, they contribute a continual stream of income every year.

Remember, if wellness patients are communicated to and not sold to, they will refer their family and friends. These new patients will continue to refer people just like themselves almost like magic. All this with little or no marketing or advertising cost. You are looking at the communicated-to patient having a value of up to 10 times that of the sold-to patient!

When you learn the mindset of success and start communicating to your patients rather than managing them, your practice will explode and you will attract patients who want what you have. They will stay, pay and refer others just like themselves.

Continue to attract patients who have to be managed or attract patients looking for a D.C. just like you. You decide. If you can't communicate, there's no decision to be made. It's already been made for you.